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Koo Kwang-ming expected to run in DPP race

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Frank Hsieh, left, and DPP Department of Youth Development Director Chou Yung-hong yesterday encourage young people to join the party during a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Taipei. PHOTO: CNA

Former senior presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) is expected to announce his candidacy today as the registration period for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairmanship election closes.

Registration opened on Monday and the election is scheduled for May 18.

The former Presidential Office secretary-general Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), who was rumored to be interested in running for the post, declined yesterday to comment on whether she would register as a candidate.

In related news, a group of DPP supporters yesterday requested that former vice premier Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) run for chairman.

Lee Min-yung (李敏勇), a poet, said that he thought Tsai was suitable for the post because she has a Taiwanese perspective, but also an international outlook.

She is well educated and prudent, Lee said, adding that Tsai would also be a new face for a party that needs to pursue change.

At the same time, Tsai has extensive political experience, Lee said.

Lin Cho-shui (林濁水), a former DPP legislator, said Tsai was one of the party’s outstanding talents and was the most suitable to lead it because she is capable but young.

As the party faces a difficult future, Lin said, Tsai would represent a style of leadership different from that of the older generation.

The electronic version of the Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday that Tsai had agreed to run and was expected to register today.

Tsai’s secretary, however, dismissed the report and declined to speculate on Tsai’s intentions.

Lin said that although the party has many talented people, its administration was disappointing and “heart-breaking.”

Government policies were drawn up by a select group of “laymen” with little knowledge of politics, economic affairs and cross-strait relations, he said, and they let politics direct national policy and interfere in the work of capable government officials.

Calling Tsai a top negotiator, National Taiwan University sociology professor Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁) praised her expertise on economic development, social justice and cross-strait relations.

Lee said one of the DPP’s problems was that the party did not know what issues to promote during the campaign for the presidency and they had no idea how to reform the party after the election defeat.

The party’s “biggest crisis is its lack of core values and consistent beliefs, leaving it with nothing but opportunism,” he said.

“Now it has nothing to lose but burdens. There is only one way to go and it is to protect society, not its power,” he said.

The pro-independence Taiwan Society yesterday issued a statement calling on senior DPP members — including Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) — to run for party chairman.

The society said that if anyone should be held responsible for election losses, it should be President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).

Meanwhile, the DPP announced yesterday that as of Wednesday, 1,024 younger members had joined the party after it announced it would allow those aged between 18 and 35 who have held membership for less than a year to vote in the party chairman election next month.

The change was made in a bid to boost participation in the party by young members.

The DPP said it hoped to see the number of registrations double or triple before the deadline on April 25.

Hsieh yesterday encouraged young people to join the party and participate in its reform efforts.
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